Class action suit against Greenberg Traurig settles

A class action suit that claimed law firm Greenberg Traurig underpaid its women lawyers has settled, according to Thomson Reuters.

Late last year, Francine Friedman Griesing filed a complaint against the firm, claiming it violated the Equal Pay Act, a federal law that mandates employers offer equal pay for equal work, regardless of gender. In her suit Griesing said Greenberg underpaid women lawyers and fostered an “old boys club” within the firm. She brought the suit on behalf of 215 current and former Greenberg shareholders.

Griesing said specifically that she had been underpaid at least $200,000, pointing to an incident in 2009 when she complained to one of the firm’s compensation committee members that her bonus amount was inconsistent with that of her male counterparts. She claims in her suit that the committee member told her that the men had families they needed to support and that she did not need the money.

But when the two sides settled late last week, New York Federal Judge William Pauley threw out the case. In his dismissal, Pauley said that “all claims that were or could have been brought in the ... litigation are hereby withdrawn and shall be and hereby are dismissed in their entirety, with prejudice, and without attorney's fees, costs, or disbursement to any party."